Castle High grad hopes to dance to top

Castle High School graduate Cara Horibe has made it to the finals of MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew" with her fellow dancers in Fanny Pak, who will attempt to make the top two crews at 10 p.m. tomorrow.

The finale on Aug. 21 is expected to include a reunion of the top 10 teams, and the announcement of the winner.

Through some close calls this season, Fanny Pak has managed to survive. And last week, they did a whole lot more than that. The crew received a standing ovation from the judges and spectators after their wild rendition of Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On" -- a first on the show, according to Cara's mother, Wanda Horibe, who was in the studio audience. In addition, the crowd chanted the team name repeatedly. "It was truly awesome," Wanda said.

With three teams remaining, it's unclear even to the competitors how and when the final team will be selected. But there's no question that fan voting will play a huge role this week.

By the time Hawaii residents watch tomorrow's episode, voting will long be over on the East Coast and ending quickly in the Pacific. Here's the trick to avoiding the one-hour time constraint: If you want to support Cara and her team, visit www.dancecrew.mtv.com after 6 p.m. Hawaii time, click on the voting icon, then click on Fanny Pak.

Wanda said Cara has received messages from fans on her MySpace page telling her how much she inspires them. "She is letting people around the world know that even though we're from a small island, we have big dreams," said Wanda. "The whole team responds to every single fan, and they are thrilled. Every one makes a difference to them."

Probably most motivating is the fact that this dance crew is considered "real underdogs," said Wanda. "They're not the pretty girls with the skinny bodies. It's for all the misfits, the nerds, which is pretty neat. It says, 'If that's your passion, go ahead and do it.' "